Search for… ‘Polygon Storm’

Search for… is a series which champions mobile hidden gems you may not be aware of. Regardless of platform, age, or popularity, if a mobile game is worth digging for we’ll feature it here.

Game: Polygon Storm

Developer:Glass Knuckle Games

Platform: Android, PC

Price:$0.99 / £0.66

Classic shoot-’em-ups, arguably the purest distillation of a videogame, are not about shooting. The shooting is secondary — it makes the genre marketable, and gives us some flashy explosions to gawp at. But at their core, shmups are about dodging, and this is what Glass Knuckle Games have embraced with Polygon Storm.

‘But who would buy a dodge-’em-up?’, I hear you ask. Admittedly, it lacks the same instant sense of excitement of shootier alternatives, but things get very intense very fast. Before long, everything clicks into place in a mass of pulsating colours and pounding chiptunes; you’re weaving your ‘craft’ in and out of seemingly unsurpassable danger not even consciously, but with some deep-rooted gamer’s instinct which takes the lead.

In the finest examples of arcade gaming there should be almost no barrier between the player’s thoughts and the player’s actions on screen — with smooth and instinctive controls refined to the point of being almost indistinguishable from telepathy. Mobile games often struggle with this, because the controls require thought. Has my thumb drifted too far from the virtual d-pad? Do I need to re-calibrate the tilt? All things that bring you out of the experience. In this respect, Polygon Storm‘s greatest strength is knowing its own limits. You move your finger around the screen, your ship follows. Simple as that. As responsive and instinctive as any gamepad.

Add to all this a brilliant chiptune soundtrack from ABSRDST, and you’ve got yourself a must-have title lurking in the depths of the Play Store.

You can download the game for a pittance right here on Google Play. It won’t cost you much, and you’ll get plenty out of it.